


Six Feet Under

by KCKenobi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Claustrophobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Gets A Hug, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Obi-Wan Kenobi Gets a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Mess, Panic Attacks, Protective Ahsoka Tano, Protective Anakin Skywalker, That's Not How The Force Works, Worried Anakin Skywalker, ahsoka has a big heart, light humor at some parts!, these characters just love each other so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25750882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KCKenobi/pseuds/KCKenobi
Summary: Obi-Wan is claustrophobic, and an underground tunnel with Anakin and Ahsoka is the last place he wants to be. But when an explosion causes the tunnel to collapse, he and Ahsoka are trapped beneath the rubble.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 50
Kudos: 473





	Six Feet Under

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Под землей](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27829660) by [julyp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/julyp/pseuds/julyp)



The Force reeked of death.

Ahsoka tiptoed behind Anakin and Master Kenobi, trying not to think too much about the tombs that lined the walls. They were traveling through an underground catacomb system, and everything about the tunnel felt sinister. The air smelled of decay and mildew. As the marshy planet above leaked cold liquid from the ceiling, Ahsoka shuddered and wiped droplets off her face.

“I really hate the Ando system,” Anakin muttered, as if reading her mind. He was using his lightsaber as a flashlight, and it cast long shadows down the tunnel. “It stinks down here. Why would the Separatists build a military base on such a smelly planetoid?”

“Somehow I don’t think the battle droids mind much,” Master Kenobi replied.

“Well, I mind. Selfish of them not to consider the comfort of potential invaders.” Suddenly, Anakin smirked. “Hey, remember the last time we were here – ”

“Nope. I do not remember that, and neither do you.”

Ahsoka piped up. “What? What happened?”

“That’s funny,” Anakin continued. “Because I seem to remember something about you and a bowl of hoi _-_ broth…”

“ _Anakin_.”

Anakin laughed as Master Kenobi smacked his arm. But before she could beg them to tell her what they were talking about, the levity drained from Anakin’s face. He stopped walking, raising his lightsaber higher for light. And there, a few meters ahead, she saw it.

The tunnel split off into two.

“Which way?” Ahsoka said.

Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged a glance. One of the tunnels appeared to be the main one – it was much wider, like the one they were in now. The second tunnel was so narrow that Anakin might have to shimmy sideways to make it through.

“The map only showed one way,” Anakin said. “But…”

“We should try both. Split up,” Master Kenobi said. “We don’t know for sure that either is right.”

Ahsoka felt her throat go dry. One of them would have to go alone, then. The thought of slinking down the narrow tunnel, walls on either side so close they could suffocate her…

“I’ll go alone.”

Master Kenobi stepped forward, igniting his own lightsaber to use for light. Maybe it was the shadow, but she swore she saw unease flicker through his eyes.

“No,” Anakin said. “It shouldn’t be you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You go with Ahsoka through the wider tunnel. I’ll meet you at the exit.”

“We don’t know for certain that there _is_ an exit.”

“All the more reason you shouldn’t go,” Anakin said sharply. Ahsoka could sense another layer to his words that she didn’t understand, could see the knowing glance between him and Master Kenobi, a reminder of how well they knew each other – sometimes, it was as if they were in each other’s heads. When Anakin shook his head, their nonverbal exchange completed, he turned to Ahsoka.

“Be careful. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Get in, disable the shield generator, and get out,” he said. “Don’t raise hell unless you have to.”

“You’ll be with us, Master. We’ll meet you at the exit.”

His eyes flickered quickly down the narrow tunnel, then back to meet her gaze. Though there was a darkness in them, they brightened just a little as he spoke:

“Not if I get there first. Race you?”

Master Kenobi rolled his eyes. “Oh, please—”

“If I get there first, I get to tell Ahsoka about the hoi-broth incident.”

That seemed to shut him up just fine.

Anakin bid them goodbye, and left them with his signature smirk. But something passed through his eyes when he looked at Master Kenobi, as if they both knew something she didn’t. Ahsoka felt a chill trickle down her spine – from more than just the dank, chilly catacombs. And then Anakin was gone, vanished down the narrow tunnel, leaving behind only the faint glow of his lightsaber.

With a new eeriness settling in her chest, Ahsoka swallowed.

As she and Master Kenobi continued down the wider tunnel, Ahsoka felt hyperconscious of her own breathing – the slight shudder of cold air into her lungs seemed to echo, with only the sound of dripping water and cautious footsteps to join it. She steadied herself, drawing the Force around her like a blanket.

“We should be coming up on the exit soon,” Master Kenobi said. He sounded a little breathless too, though she wasn’t sure why. “Unless, of course, this turns out to be the dead end, and Anakin’s tunnel was the right one.”

Ahsoka gulped at the thought. “What happens then?”

“We turn around. And hope no one’s been following us.”

She knew he meant Separatists. But she couldn’t help but shiver as she imagined the bodies of whoever was buried down here slithering out of their tombs, creeping down the tunnel with clacking bones and hollowed eye sockets, cornering them in a dead end…

And then, there was light.

Master Kenobi lowered his lightsaber as a faint glow filled the catacombs, then powered it down. They’d made it – the exit was right up ahead. Ahsoka breathed a sigh of relief as she quickened her pace, already imagining the warmth of sunlight and air not polluted with death and decay—

“Ahsoka, wait.”

Master Kenobi’s voice was sharp, and she slowed but didn’t stop. Didn’t he want to get out of here as fast as possible, too? Maybe he didn’t show it like she did, but Ahsoka could feel his disquiet through the Force, and—

“ _Stop.”_

The bomb went off.

And the ceiling came crashing down.

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

The first thing Ahsoka noticed was the taste of dust in her mouth.

Her head protested with a sharp pain as she sat up, coughing and sputtering. Had she passed out? She must have. Reeling, she tried to remember. No sense of danger at all. Master Kenobi calling out to her. An explosion. And then…

Darkness.

She almost lit up her lightsaber, but caught herself in time – if their attackers were looking for survivors, they’d find her instantly. But she couldn’t stop herself from calling out into the blackness:

“Master Kenobi?”

She was met with a groan. “No need to shout in my ear, Padawan.”

Relief flooded her. He was alive. And if he was being sarcastic, he couldn’t be hurt too badly, could he?

“Are you alright?”

“Fine,” he said, then coughed. “I suppose our covert operation wasn’t as covert as we thought. Somebody knew we were coming.”

His voice was soft, and she considered again the possibility that someone could be listening. Instead of replying, Ahsoka stretched out her hands, feeling for the space around her. Her palm hit a wall of rubble only a few centimeters from her face.

She moved her other hand – another wall.

And then another.

And then another.

Surrounding them.

Her breath quickened a bit as she lowered her hands back to her lap.

“Are you hurt?”

Master Kenobi’s voice came from right beside her, and she felt his knee brush hers as he shifted in the dark. She assessed herself for injuries – no broken bones, but her head still hurt and her ears were ringing – probably a concussion.

But they had bigger problems than that.

“No. But, Master Kenobi…”

Ahsoka lit up her lightsaber, and as its glow flooded the room, her heart sank with the confirmation of what she’d suspected.

“I think we’re trapped.”

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Years of training ensured that a Jedi knew how to remain cool under pressure. One learned to think fast, to clear one’s judgement from fear, to dwell in the light of the Force when faced with darkness.

Yet as he took in the sight of their rubble prison, Obi-Wan felt his heart flutter and skip a beat.

He’d say they were lucky not to have been crushed, if he believed in such a thing as luck. The stone catacomb walls had collapsed inward, and the space was so narrow that he and Ahsoka couldn’t stand shoulder-to-shoulder. There was dust everywhere – in his throat, on his clothes, on his eyelashes – and the air tasted acrid. He pushed to his feet, feeling his muscles groan as he did, but stopped short – not because he wanted to, but because he _had_ to. The ceiling was too low for him to stand up.

Ahsoka stood too, or tried to, fruitlessly dusting off her leggings. “Can we use our lightsabers to cut our way out?”

“No,” he replied, though his voice was raspy. “That might destabilize the walls. We’d be crushed.”

“What if we lifted the stones with the Force?”

“For all we know, there was a ten-story building aboveground that come down on us, too. It might be impossible on our _best_ day,” he said. “And, young one, I can sense your concussion from here.”

“I’m fine. Nothing serious,” she muttered, looking sheepish.

But what he didn’t tell her was that he wasn’t at his best himself. In spite of his efforts to regulate his breathing, he felt himself starting to panic just a bit. _Relax. Stay calm._ What had the Mind Healers taught him all those years ago? He tried to practice one of their old breathing exercises – in through the nose, hold, out through the mouth…

But when he looked again at the walls, suddenly they looked like red ray shields.

He blinked the illusion away. “Com Anakin. I think the explosives were short-range. Hopefully he fared better than we did.”

“Wish I could.” Ahsoka held up her comlink – the metal casing was smashed, and wires poked out. “It’s busted.”

_Blast._

“Alright,” he said, stroking his beard. His mind buzzed in search of a potential Plan B – there always was one. Obi-Wan was known as a strategist and tactician. Thinking logically was what he did best.

But as he felt his palms start to sweat and his mind race, he knew he wasn’t thinking logically at all.

_Calm down,_ he told himself. _You’re trapped, but you’ll be okay. Be patient. Breathe._

He inhaled slowly, but breathing felt forced. Like if he didn’t remind himself to do it, he’d forget, and suffocate. They’d find his body down here in the catacombs, indistinguishable from the other skeletons buried long ago in the rubble…

“Master Kenobi? Are you okay?”

He blinked. Right. He had a job to do. He had to get Ahsoka out of here, and then they had to meet Anakin and shut down the shield generators. They would be fine. He would be fine.

“Do you feel Anakin through your Force bond?” he said in lieu of answering.

She seemed to consider this before answering. “He’s alive. I don’t think he’s hurt. But it’s fuzzy, like he’s far away. I don’t know if it’s the concussion, but I can’t get a message through.”

“You might if we try together.”

She nodded. But he noticed she was eyeing him suspiciously as they sank to the floor. Could she tell how anxious he was? He tucked his hands into his sleeves so she wouldn’t see them trembling.

They sat cross-legged on the ground. The space was so tight that their knees touched, but Obi-Wan was grateful to be sitting again – at least then his head didn’t scrape the ceiling. He didn’t feel quite so suffocated.

Together, they sank into meditation. Swimming in the Force, Obi-Wan tried to contain his anxiety, to tuck it away so it didn’t seep through to Ahsoka. He focused on his breath, centering himself on the flow of air in and out of his lungs.

Except the air didn’t feel like it _was_ flowing.

_Calm down, calm down_ , he repeated to himself _. Find Anakin._

But every time he tried to reach out in the Force, to intertwine his Force presence with Ahsoka’s and look for his former Padawan, he found his mind trailing somewhere else. A power generator. An endless corridor, trapped between red ray shields. Closed-in. Helpless.

_No. Come back to the present._ He could feel Ahsoka probing at his mind, waiting. But he couldn’t let her in. Not now, when he felt like this.

_Breathe, breathe._

He couldn’t breathe. His throat felt tight, and it was coated in dust—

_You’re fine._

His heart pounded, knocking against his ribcage like it was trying to get out, trapped between prison walls like he was…

Ahsoka probed his mental shields again.

_I can’t let her in. I can’t—_

He could feel the stone walls around him. Closing in, suffocating. He was helpless. Trapped. He would run out of air in here or slowly go crazy or lose it in front of Ahsoka or—

_Is this what dying feels like?_

He was vaguely aware of his back up against the wall, his legs crossed before him, Ahsoka calling out his name. But none of it felt real. This wasn’t real, _he_ wasn’t real, with his racing heart and the sharp pain in his chest and dizzying feeling of drowning, choking, suffocating…

_I’m trapped. I’m trapped. I can’t get—_

“Master Kenobi?”

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Ahsoka had meditated with Master Kenobi only a few times before, though usually Anakin was with them. But often enough to know that he wasn’t usually so…distant. When she sent him the mental equivalent of a question mark, he practically shoved her out his mind.

And then she heard the shuddering sound, and realized that something was seriously wrong.

“Master,” she said, scooting over to be by his side. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

She scanned him, cursing herself. She’d assumed he was fine. He’d _looked_ fine. But now, he was leaning his head back against the wall, eyes closed, distress written all over his face. His breathing was fast, heavy, strained.

“No,” he said, but his voice was small. “Not hurt.”

“What’s going on?”

He shook his head sharply and drew his knees up to his chest.

Ahsoka kept her voice calm and gentle. “Master Kenobi, I need you to tell me what you’re feeling. I can’t help unless –”

“I want to get out.”

Ahsoka’s eyebrows raised slightly. _What?_ But she masked the surprise on her face.

“I know,” she said softly. “I do, too. That’s why we were trying to contact Anakin, remember…?”

“I can’t stay in here. I feel…I just, I’m…” He swallowed hard, his eyes searching hers before he closed them again. “I’m so sorry.”

He ran both hands down his face, and Ahsoka didn’t miss the way they trembled. And as she watched him, letting his words sink in, she realized.

_Oh._

“Master Kenobi…Master—” He showed no sign of even hearing her. Ahsoka hesitated – she’d never been on a first-name basis with her grandmaster, but… “ _Obi-Wan.”_

He looked up, eyes frantic and searching.

“Obi-Wan,” she repeated gently. “I think you’re having a panic attack.”

To her surprise, he nodded tightly.

“Have you had one before?”

He nodded again.

_Okay._ That was good. Ahsoka was pretty sure she knew a panic attack when she saw one, but there was always a chance… What if she was wrong? And it was a heart attack or something, and Obi-Wan really was about to die here, trapped in the catacombs…

She shook the thought from her head. _No_. He’d be okay. She was going to make sure he’d be okay.

She reached to put a hand on his shoulder. “Master K—Obi-Wan…”

“Please don’t.”

His voice was quiet, and he jerked away from her touch as though it had stung him. _Oops_. Realizing her mistake, Ahsoka backed as far away as possible – which was to say, not very far – to give him space.

Once her back was up against the opposite wall, she tried again.

“This feeling will pass,” she said softly. “We’re trapped right now, but we’ll be okay. Anakin will come for us.”

“He doesn’t even know we’re here.”

Ahsoka felt a pang of dread as her own fears were vocalized. Because if Master Kenobi thought it was hopeless, maybe it really…no. He was anxious. He wasn’t thinking rationally. She would have to bring enough optimism for the both of them.

“We’re going to be okay,” she repeated. “It’s scary, but this feeling will pass.”

“It will pass,” Obi-Wan echoed, nodding, his eyes fixed on the ground by her feet. He was pressing two fingers to his neck on the side of his windpipe, as if to feel his own pulse. She imagined it was racing.

And she realized, then, how helpless she really was. Aside from offering reassurances – reassurances she wasn’t even sure she believed – what else could she do? As she watched Obi-Wan clench and unclench his fists, on the verge of hyperventilating now, she suddenly felt as if she were witnessing something incredibly private. He would never willingly let anyone see him so vulnerable, she knew, maybe not even Anakin. She looked down, focusing on the scuffs and stains on her shoes.

She didn’t lift her gaze until he shifted to sit cross-legged again.

“I’m going to try meditating,” he murmured. “Calm myself down.”

She nodded. He closed his eyes, and for a moment his breaths seemed to come slower, if still shaky, and the furrow in his brow seemed to lesson.

But her relief was short-lived. Minutes later he was shuddering again, biting down hard on his lower lip.

“I can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t breathe.”

“Tell me what you need.”

He shook his head. His knee bounced up and down furiously. There was so much anxious energy rolling off of him and into the Force that Ahsoka felt her own heartrate hitch for a moment before she calmed it back down.

“When I try to meditate, I…” He swallowed, creating a brief interruption in his quick breathing. “My mind is out of control. I can’t…I don’t…”

Seeing the famed Negotiator stumble over his words was jarring. But Ahsoka got into a cross-legged position again herself and spoke gently, weaving an aura of calm into her words.

“Want me to try meditating with you?”

She saw the hesitation in his eyes and truthfully, she hesitated, too. For her to really help him, he’d need to open his mind completely, or at least enough for her to untangle his anxious thoughts – something she doubted he’d ever be comfortable doing.

But then he was breathing faster and digging his fingernails into his palms, and nodding quickly, tightly.

They both closed their eyes.

Obi-Wan was resisting at first – she could feel it. He was with her, she could feel his Force presence meet hers, but it was guarded. She waited. Gave him time until he was prepared, ready to let his defenses drop.

And when they did, the wave of anxiety that flooded through was almost enough to sweep Ahsoka away.

_Wait, Master, wait! I’m trapped—I can’t get to you…_

The voice leapt from Obi-Wan’s memories and into hers, tangling with her own thoughts and taking root in her mind. Who was that?

_Hang on, Master. I’m coming, I—_

There was a scream.

It was just a memory. Just an illusion. Ahsoka knew that. But the anguish that flowed through felt so raw, so _real_ —

_Red ray shields. Walls on both sides._

_Trapped._

_Master, no—_

_I’m closed in, I can’t—_

Ahsoka felt like she was falling.

_No._

She centered herself, focusing on her own breath, the rising and falling of her chest, the calm she’d only misplaced. Master Kenobi’s panic twisted around her like a cyclone, but she was still and serene at its core. She was okay. She was okay.

Ahsoka probed through her own memories and grabbed onto the first one she passed – an image of her and Obi-Wan. He’d been helping her study for her thermodynamics exam while Anakin was in a meeting, and she could not for the life of her understand the Carnot cycle. He’d explained it to her over and over in a dozen different ways, but she just couldn’t wrap her head around it – too abstract, too much jargon about pressure and gas temperature and energy input.

But then he was climbing onto a chair to demonstrate, smiling, saying “Pretend I’m a gas and we’re about to perform isothermal expansion.” When Anakin walked in, they were both doubled over in laughter and surrounded by pots and pans—neither of them had the breath to explain that Obi-Wan had leapt off the chair and had an unfortunate incident with the cooking supplies.

In her mind, Obi-Wan’s anxiety still raged. But as she smiled at the memory, at last she felt secure enough to venture into the whirlwind. Reaching out into Obi-Wan’s thoughts, she plucked one from the mess, traded his anxious thought for her good one.

The whirlwind started to slow.

She did this again and again – taking one of Obi-Wan’s frantic thoughts, replacing it with one of hers. She combed through her memory, searching for those little bits of joy. Obi-Wan and Anakin, play-fighting over an embarrassing holo Anakin didn’t want her to see. The three of them playing sabaac on the way back to Coruscant, Anakin slapping his cards down on the table while Obi-Wan just laughed. Ahsoka tripping during lightsaber drills, Obi-Wan correcting her footwork, the warmth in his face. She poured every good memory she had into his mind, letting the bad ones seep out like the water from the ceiling, until his breath began to slow and his mind began to steady, and she knew he was okay.

When Ahsoka opened her eyes, she was exhausted. She slumped back against the wall, and Obi-Wan did the same. He was still bouncing his knee, she saw, and his hands shook as he smoothed his hair. But some of the color had returned to his face, and his breathing was much slower. She exhaled.

“How do you feel?”

He shrugged and gave a weak, embarrassed smile. “Okay.”

“Rest easy for a few minutes, alright?” She pulled the busted comlink from her pocket and turned it over in her palm. “I’ll see what I can do about contacting Anakin.”

Obi-Wan just nodded and pulled his knees up to his chest again, resting his chin on top of them. She heard him start to breathe rhythmically – inhaling, holding his breath, then releasing it again – as if his lungs were on an invisible timer.

Ahsoka busied herself with the broken comlink. Grimacing, she peeled back the busted metal casing – luckily, she thought, that part wasn’t important anyway. Inside was a jumble of circuits and wires, none of which she knew what to do with. Her head spun with a painful reminder of her likely concussion. And anyway, Anakin was the whiz with machines, not her.

Still, she’d picked up enough to notice that some of the components on the circuit board were smashed and the wires disconnected. But even so…hmm, maybe she could work with that. They didn’t necessarily need to be able to transmit a message. A signal of any kind would do – just enough that Anakin could track their location.

_Okay,_ Ahsoka thought to herself. _One of the broken parts looks like a variable resistor…which probably controls volume, so that’s not an issue. We need to transmit, not receive._ She kept scanning, eyes tracing the copper tracks and layers of wires. _Kriff, that diode is wrecked…that might be the biggest problem. The current will flow the wrong way unless…_

“Try swapping the LED by your thumb with that standard diode. The broken one.”

Ahsoka looked up to see Obi-Wan pointing at the circuit board – and though his hand shook a little as he did so, his eyes were definitely clearer.

“You might have an issue with the forward voltage drop, but it’s better than nothing,” he continued. “It should redirect the current enough to get a signal out.”

She nodded, feeling the surprise flicker across her face. But when she followed Obi-Wan’s instructions, a slight buzzing rang out from the com.

It was transmitting.

“It worked. We can’t send a message, but our signal is pinging somewhere. If Anakin’s looking for it, he’ll be able to pick it up.” Ahsoka turned the device over in her palm, amazed at the vibrations emanating from it. “How’d you think of that?”

“I guess I didn’t sleep through my Temple courses in engineering, unlike someone else I know.” He was smiling, though Ahsoka felt herself redden at the jest. He’d been there when she brought home a note from her teacher about her tendency to nap through electrical lab. “Besides, you don’t raise Anakin Skywalker to knighthood without picking up a thing or two about circuitry.”

Silence came over them then, the air filled with nothing but dust and electrical buzzing. As she swallowed the parched air, Ahsoka caught herself wondering if they still _could_ suffocate in here. They were underground, and the space so tiny that if it was airtight…

“Thank you. For what you did earlier.”

Ahsoka shook away the worry at the sound of Obi-Wan’s voice. He was looking at her, and in the dim light from her lightsaber, he suddenly looked so much younger. Even the creases in his face couldn’t mask his uncertain eyes.

She swallowed again. “Don’t mention it. But…Master Kenobi…”

Her voice faltered as she stopped herself. Who was she to ask him about his private matters? Private matters she’d found while _literally trespassing in his own mind_. Those memories hadn’t been hers to see, and to ask about them now would be a violation.

But his eyes suddenly flickered away from hers, and he spoke so quietly she almost didn’t hear him.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. Usually I’m…a lot more in control.” He drummed his fingers against his leg. “It’s been a while since…since it got that bad.”

“That happens a lot?”

He shrugged. “It used to.”

Ahsoka watched as he flexed his hands open. He stared down at them, eyes tracing the tremor in his fingers.

“Did Anakin ever tell you what happened to my old master? Qui-Gon Jinn?”

Ahsoka bit her lip, then released it. “Just that he died. Maul killed him.”

Obi-Wan nodded and wrapped his arms around his knees again. “When it happened, I was stuck between ray shields. Trapped.”

_Oh._

Snippets from his memories came rushing back to her – someone yelling out to wait, that he was closed in and couldn’t help, the anxiety building and anguish spilling out as someone screamed. _No wonder_ , Ahsoka thought. _No wonder he panicked being trapped in here._

“But I can handle it now. Usually.” He looked up at her for a moment, before his eyes found the ground again. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

“Hey,” she said. “You don’t have to apologize. You just did something really hard.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “And hey, you got through it.”

“Thanks to you.” He smiled weakly then, and she returned it. But then his eyes flashed, a flicker of the droll sense of humor she was used to, and his smile turned real. “I can’t believe you still remember that disaster with the pots and pans.”

She laughed, and the sound surprised her. “It was the first thing I thought of. I don’t know why.”

“At least you’ll never forget the Carnot cycle.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said, “Thermodynamics never was my best subject.”

He chuckled quietly. “And that time we found the holo of Anakin dressed in my robes as a youngling…”

“Now _that_ I’ll never forget.”

“I’m sure Anakin will be thrilled to hear it.”

Their smiles faded slightly at the mention of Anakin. Ahsoka wondered where he was now. Had he gone on to complete the mission? Would he find them? Did he think to search for their com signal? She saw Obi-Wan close his eyes again, and for a moment she feared he might relapse into panic. But he didn’t. Though he definitely wasn’t himself, he was far from the breakdown she’d witnessed before. And besides – he was Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was an anchor, a rock, a light. And though he may stumble, Ahsoka knew he would always, always rise again.

Something in the Force fluttered around her, and Ahsoka suddenly felt like she could sleep for a thousand years. Her head hurt, and her eyelids felt heavy as she leaned back against the wall.

Obi-Wan must’ve read her mind, because he raised his eyebrows in question. “How are _you_ feeling?”

She shrugged. “I’ll survive.”

Even if she wouldn’t, they both knew there wasn’t much he could do about it. But Obi-Wan was Obi-Wan – he would do what he could to help, as he always did.

“You might find my shoulder to be a more comfortable pillow than the wall, if your head is hurting,” he said. “I promise I won’t push you away this time.”

She looked up, and immediately regretted it – the light from her saber suddenly hurt her eyes.

“Are you sure?”

He patted his shoulder in response. Gratefully, she slid over to his side of the small space and let her head loll sideways, resting against his upper arm. And in the quiet, in the warmth and comfort of knowing someone else was there, they waited.

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Six feet up, Anakin was pacing.

He’d made it out of the catacombs, though not in the place he’d expected. The narrow tunnel had carried him about a half klick south of the spot they were supposed to emerge, and he hoped Obi-Wan and Ahsoka hadn’t waited. They should’ve gone on without him by now – the mission had to come first. He’d catch up.

But then he felt the spark in the Force, and knew immediately that something was wrong.

Neither Obi-Wan nor Ahsoka answered their coms. He’d started running, headed for the place they were supposed to emerge inside enemy lines. But when he got to the entrance of the catacombs, his heart dropped.

The tunnel had collapsed.

_Kriff,_ Anakin cursed, _kriff, kriff, kriff._ They could’ve been anywhere when it happened. Had they been crushed? Injured? But even if they weren’t. Even if they’d just been trapped beneath the rubble…

He knew Obi-Wan had been uneasy from the start. Though he’d gotten better since the early days of Anakin’s apprenticeship, since the days when he wouldn’t even take the turbolifts in the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan was still claustrophobic. The narrow, constricted tunnels of the catacombs had been a lot for him, Anakin knew. But he’d seemed okay. Anakin had tried to keep his former master’s mind busy with banter, and when they’d come to the narrower tunnel, he’d insisted on going in Obi-Wan’s place, thinking he’d feel better in the wider one, less trapped…

He cursed himself as he pulled out his com.

“Rex. Come in.”

“Sir,” Rex’s voice crackled through the device. “Is the mission…?”

“No. Something happened. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are trapped in the catacombs.”

There was a beat of silence before Rex replied. “Are they –”

“Alive, I can sense it. Maybe hurt. Listen, I’m inside the city defenses. It’s deserted, I haven’t seen any battle droids yet, but they might be here any minute. I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, sir.”

“I can’t start moving rocks until I know their exact location. Else I risk bringing the whole city down on top of them.” Anakin paused to swallow, his throat suddenly dry. “Assuming they’re even conscious, they’ll either try to contact us through the Force or rig something with the com. I’ll be listening on my end. I need you to keep an ear on all channels for any way they might try to get through.”

“Yes, sir. And what about you, sir?”

“I’m going in alone. Once I shut down the shield generator, move in. And Rex…” His mind wandered for a second, and he blanched at the thought of what he might find waiting beneath the rubble. “Send a team of medics to my location when you do. If I find them…”

His voice wavered just a little, and he was sure Rex could hear it.

“Of course, sir. _When_ you find them, we’ll be there.”

Anakin’s voice was small as he thanked him and clicked off his com. More than anything, he wanted to barrel through the boulders and dig them out himself.

But he couldn’t do that. Not yet.

So he forced himself to focus on what he could do. With a lump in his throat and a burning in his eyes, Anakin took off in the opposite direction, sending a thought into the Force in hope it might reach them:

_I’ll be back. I’ll be back for you._

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Ahsoka was almost asleep when she heard it.

Master Kenobi kept telling her to stay awake – falling asleep with a concussion was dangerous, he’d said. But she was just so _sleepy_ , and the air was warm and dark, and more than anything she wanted to nestle deeper against his shoulder and drift away…

“Ahsoka.” Obi-Wan nudged her gently. “Up, young one. Listen.”

She did listen – in fact, if she’d been a little less out of it, she would’ve heard the sound long before he did with her Togrutan hearing. She sat up, trying to ignore the brief wave of dizziness the motion brought.

And there it was – the sound of scraping boulders.

“Someone’s coming,” she said, relief flooding her voice. “Anakin found us.”

“Or the Separatists did.”

“Kriff, I’d be thrilled to see Separatists right now.” She stretched, reaching as high as she could without hitting the ceiling. “But I know it’s Anakin. I can feel him.”

Obi-Wan nodded, and she didn’t miss the unbridled relief in his eyes. “Me too.”

When at last light came pouring in from above, and a gloved hand reached through the rocks, Ahsoka took it. She let herself be lifted from the rubble, heard Anakin say, “I’ve got her,” and was so thankful to see daylight again that she almost wanted to cry.

“Hey, Snips.”

Anakin pulled her to solid ground, crouching beside her as she folded to her knees. A few clone troopers flanked him. They handled excavation equipment, helmets dusty from digging. But her eyes landed on Anakin’s and stayed there, and she was surprised to see his eyes watering a little.

“You came,” she whispered.

“About time you stopped getting yourself trapped in explosions, don’t you think?”

She couldn’t even find the wit to banter back. And then before she could stop herself, she was hugging him, and his tunic against her cheek felt like the softest thing in the world. Anakin was here. He’d come for them.

They were going to be okay.

When she finally pulled back, she could see that the mission had been successful – the shields had come down, and the base was in Republic control. Clone troopers were milling about, caring for the wounded, handling the battle aftermath.

Anakin’s brow furrowed, and she felt a flutter in the Force as he mentally probed her for injuries. “Your head…”

“…is fine,” she finished. “Take care of Obi-Wan.”

Anakin paled. “Is he – ”

“Not hurt,” she said. “Just…shaken.”

“The rubble’s been stabilized again, sir! You can move in.”

Ahsoka turned to find that Cody had joined the clones excavating the tunnel. He spoke over his shoulder, helmet on the ground beside him, and she could read the worry on his face instantly.

When Ahsoka assured him again that she was fine, Anakin bolted to Cody’s side.

“On your mark, General,” Cody said.

Anakin nodded, and began to levitate the remaining boulders away.

When the last stone was gone, Ahsoka could see clearly into the collapsed tunnel. Master Kenobi hadn’t moved – he sat up against the wall, arms hugging his shins, and in the daylight she could see clearly the pallor in his face. Anakin reached down with both hands and helped him to his feet, then up and out of the narrow crevice. Relief flooded the Force.

She had just enough time to see Anakin pulling Obi-Wan into a hug before Kix tapped on her shoulder.

“Sir, we have a stretcher waiting for you.”

Ahsoka smiled, shaking her head. “I’m fine, Kix.”

“I’m to escort you to medical, sir. That’s an order.”

She almost rolled her eyes, but knew he outranked her here. Grimacing, she sat on the edge of the stretcher, letting her feet swing back and forth in the air – it felt good to be able to move them again.

Though she was farther away from Anakin and Obi-Wan now, she was still close enough to hear the hushed conversation. Obi-Wan was sitting on a boulder, elbows braced against his knees, while Anakin worked himself into a fit of worry.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am now.”

“You had a—”

Obi-Wan held up a hand to silence him, then nodded sheepishly. “But I got through it.”

Ahsoka looked down. She knew she shouldn’t be listening – this was private. None of her business. But that didn’t stop her montrals from perking up at the mention of her name.

“Your Padawan…she helped me calm down. We were meditating, and she did what you always do,” Obi-Wan was saying softly. “Almost like she knew.”

“I never told her, I promise—”

“No, I know. I just meant…” He took a breath, and it was steadier than she’d heard it since before they’d entered the catacombs. “I’m glad she was there.”

Ahsoka wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a flicker of pride in Anakin’s eyes.

When he and Obi-Wan came over to her stretcher, she pretended to busy herself dusting off her clothes. Anakin nodded Obi-Wan toward the second stretcher. Though he rolled his eyes, he didn’t protest as he sat on it.

“Well I guess you won, Master,” Ahsoka said.

Anakin’s eyebrows lifted. “Won?”

She nodded, a smirk pushing onto her face. “Don’t you remember a certain wager we made before you left?”

His face relaxed, and he folded both arms across his chest. She noticed Obi-Wan’s eyes widen just a bit.

“That’s right. Remember that, Obi-Wan? If _I_ got to the exit first, I got to tell Ahsoka about—”

“No,” Obi-Wan said. “You promised we’d never—”

“’Never speak of it,’ yeah, yeah, whatever. But fair’s fair, Master.” He looked unbelievably gleeful. “We’re telling her about the hoi-broth incident.”

“What’s the hoi-broth incident?”

“ _Nothing!”_

“Our dear friend Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi…”

“No!”

“…didn’t know he was allergic to a certain seaweed soup…”

“ _Anakin,_ I swear to—”

“…and in the middle of the most important negotiations of his career, he—”

Ahsoka didn’t get to hear whatever Anakin had been about to say. Because suddenly Obi-Wan had stood from the stretcher and clapped a hand over Anakin’s mouth, face bright red, shushing his former apprentice for all it was worth. Anakin was laughing and trying to squirm away, his voice muffled against Obi-Wan’s palm, the scene so rowdy that clone troopers stopped in their tracks to watch.

As Ahsoka leaned back on her hands, laughing in clean fresh air, she felt the Force swell around them all – wrapping them in joy. They were safe. They were together. And watching her master and grandmaster laugh and topple sideways onto the stretcher, she knew one thing for certain.

No matter how dark it seemed, no matter how deep she’d been buried, someone would always be there to pull her out.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you’re wondering about the mysterious “hoi-broth incident” Anakin so gleefully references…wonder no more! It’s a nod to my fic [ The Hoi-Broth Incident, ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23904385) based on a line in the RotS novelization 😊
> 
> On a completely different note – if you recognized yourself in Obi-Wan’s experience at all, if anxiety and/or panic attacks are something you struggle with, know that there is hope, even when your brain likes to tell you there isn’t. [ My inbox on tumblr ](https://kckenobi.tumblr.com/) is always open – whether you need a distraction or a friend or just to vent to someone who gets it. It’s a scary time to be a person right now, and it can feel even scarier when you’re a person with an anxiety disorder. But there’s hope, and help, and healing for you – even if you feel like you’re six feet under, I promise there’s hope for digging yourself out.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and commenting <3 Wishing you all the love and happiness in the world!


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